Inference Under the Influence: The Impact of Alcohol and Inhibition Conflict on Women's Sexual Decision Making

Abstract

Integrating Zajonc's affective primacy framework with Steele and Southwick's Inhibitory Conflict Model, we hypothesized that alcohol would have its strongest impact when one's initial affective reaction was in direct conflict with more cognitively based inhibitory cues. In an alcohol by expectancy balanced placebo design, women viewed potential partners from a fictitious video dating service who varied in attractiveness and sexual risk. Only under high inhibitory conflict (i. e., an attractive, sexually risky partner) did alcohol enhance perceived relationship potential. Interestingly, women who consumed alcohol were not less likely to notice risk cues than their sober counter-parts. Alcohol expectancy resulted in both lower estimates of risk and elevated estimates of relationship potential for the high inhibitory conflict target. Thus, in situations involving high but not low inhibitory conflict, alcohol and alcohol expectancy may suppress the impact of inhibitory cues, enabling women to more readily pursue their initial affective reactions.